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Published Articles by Michael Morris

Derrick Favors and DeMarcus Cousins workout for Kings

There are only three ways for the Sacramento Kings to improve: free agency, trade or draft. On June 24, the Kings will have the opportunity to add some talent through the draft.

Last year, the Kings selected Tyreke Evans with their first pick, which proved to be a good one. The Kings’ later picks were productive early on, but the obvious improvement came with their lottery pick. Last year, the team was given the fourth pick in the first round. This year, it will be selecting from one spot later.

On Saturday, the Kings brought in Derrick Favors and DeMarcus Cousins for their first workouts of the summer. The two are regarded as the best big men in this year’s draft.

Favors is projected to go ahead of Cousins in most mock drafts.
At Georgia Tech, Favors was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year and was named to the Sporting News All-Freshman team. He’s 6-foot-10 and weighs just under 250 pounds. He is an explosive athlete who has length and quickness that could translate well to the NBA.

Favors averaged 12.4 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game and blocked 2.1 shots a game in one year at Georgia Tech. Favors has drawn comparisons to the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard.

He said he welcomes the chance to play beside Evans.

“I used to play a lot against him in high school and AAU,” Favors said. “I know what he can do. He’s a good player and I think he’ll probably help me out as a player too, with how he works and how he approaches the game.”

Cousins played in Kentucky for John Calipari, the same coach whom Evans played for at Memphis.

Cousins said he and Evans are friends and that he believes they “would be a good inside-outside combo.”

Cousins was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year and also was named to the All-SEC First Team. He averaged 15.1 points per game, 9.8 rebounds per game and added 1.8 blocks per game. He weighs 269 pounds and is 6 feet, 11 inches.

Although Cousins is bigger than Favors, issues about his attitude have followed him like a shadow.

“I’ll just continue to be myself,” Cousins said. “I’m an aggressive player; if it shows that I have attitude, than I have attitude. I’m not going to change my game.”

He was a physical mismatch for most college teams because of his size, power and length. He has a post game and can sink a mid range jumper with consistency.

The chances of Cousins being available when the Kings pick are much higher than they are for Favors. For the Kings to take Favors, the team would most likely have to move up in the draft — for instance, making a trade with New Jersey to move up to the No. 3 spot.

More likely than not, the opportunity to take Cousins will arise and depending on how the Kings feel about his game and attitude, he is a player that may be suiting up for your Sacramento Kings this fall.